Any Raging Battle fans out there? This old Yu-Gi-Oh! Set, released all the way back in 2009, has a ton of increased interest among fans thanks to a new metagame development. For any Anime fans out there, you probably know this set for Power Tool Dragon. As an elementary schooler, I really wanted to acquire this card, and I managed to by making a trade that was, in hindsight, probably bad for me.
Either way, while a Ghost Rare Power Tool Dragon is still a great hit, that’s not the chase card that players are after anymore. Thanks to a new archetype coming out in Yu-Gi-Oh’s latest TCG release, everyone wants a copy of Trident Dragion. They want one so badly that the card has surpassed $100 a copy.
Trident Dragion
This card has suddenly become the center of attention for the competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! Community, and for good reason. Cards that offer big combat damage usually aren’t preferred over boss monsters that offer omni-negates or are difficult to destroy, but there is the odd scenario where combat-oriented payoffs can do some real work. The new Tenpai archetype is one of those scenarios.
For a long time, Snake-Eye variants have been the uncontested tier-zero archetype in the current competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Metagame. Tournament results represented absolutely disgusting metagame shares at the top ranks for these archetypes. The same is not quite true for the OCG metagame.
Traditionally ahead of the TCG, the OCG metagame has another menace that vies for the top spot. The new Tenpai archetype, a go-second OTK strategy, is all about combat. Trident Dragion, thanks to representing 9000 damage on its own, unlocks massive 33,000 damage combos for Tenpai with just one card as early as turn two.
Trident Dragion is absolutely necessary for this archetype to work. Representing a mountain of damage, your going second OTK plan gets a lot worse without it.
Sadly, there are few Trident Dragion printings in existence, making it difficult for TCG players to acquire them.
Thanks to a massive amount of sudden demand and a lack of availability, Trident Dragion has seen a 528% increase in its market average over the last three months! This increases to a startling 1927% over the course of the last year according to TCGplayer!
Over the last three months, Trident Dragion has increased from about $14.70 to $100 and beyond! Depending on the condition of the card, according to successful sales on TCGplayer, Trident Dragion can go from anywhere between $85 and $140.
If you want to play the competitive Tenpai archetype, you need a copy of Trident Dragion in your Extra Deck to make the most of it. Aside from one reprinting in Legendary Collection 5Ds, this has only been printed in Raging Battle. If anything, this suggests that Trident Dragion is in dire need of a reprint.